The Delay
by olrayt
Summary: my wild speculation as to why Minato was late when Kyuubi attacked Konoha


The moon above shone on everyone, evil and good. Somewhere down below, far from Konoha, at a waterfall dedicated to the epic fight between the First Hokage and Uchiha Madara were two combatants. They sized each other up, trying to distinguish lie from truth, bluff from strike, feint from kick.

One of the combatants, an old and evil looking man whose weird pupils danced around his red eyes, was making hand seals. The other combatant, a blond wearing a white robe with flame designs, looked at the hand gestures. The combination was weird, nothing he had ever seen before.

"What are you doing?" Minato asked.

Madara finished the hand gestures and slapped his hand on the ground. _A summoning jutsu_, Minato thought as he waited for the summon to appear. But nothing happened.

"What did you do?" Minato asked.

"Why, I just summoned Kyuubi, that's all," Madara said. His voice was surprisingly vibrant, as if spoken by a young teenage rascal rather than a legendary figure who managed to live this long by doing who knew what.

"I don't believe you. Nobody has the power to summon Kyuubi," Minato said skeptically.

"Why don't you go back to Konoha and see?" Madara said.

"So the Kyuubi's at Konoha?" Minato asked.

"Why yes, of course," Madara sneered.

_He could be telling the truth, or he could just be bluffing._ Minato weighed his options and decided that Madara was indeed bluffing.

They stared at each other for what seemed an eternity. Then without saying a word Minato disappeared, suddenly appearing beside Madara in less than half a heartbeat, a kunai just inches from the dreaded sharingan eyes. _Fast, but that's not his secret weapon_, Madara thought as he quickly ducked, the kunai just kissing his forehead. Blood flowed, but once again the cut was shallow, nothing serious. Immediately Madara jumped backward, crossing the waterfall. He didn't notice that he was standing on top of his own statue, and that Minato was standing on his accursed enemy's statue.

"Give it up, Minato," Madara screamed. The waterfall flowed ceaselessly down, the two statues faced each other in an eternal staring contest, neither willing to back down but neither willing to make the first move. Madara robe swayed with the wind, the Uchiha fan at the back already covered with blood, though most of Madara's wounds were superficial.

Minato, his white robe with flame designs also streaked with some blood, looked at Madara. He was fresh out of ideas. Madara was the most difficult enemy he has ever faced. His sharingan was very formidable. Madara read most of his moves, and those slashes and kicks and punches that did make it through produced more shallow wounds, cuts that were more irritating than fatal. Still, some blood flowed down Madara's forehead. _With luck it might cover his eyes_, Minato thought.

"Of course, you could use that fabled hiraishin I keep hearing about," Madara baited.

_Looks like he's right. I've tried everything except that, _Minato thought. Still, he wouldn't want to use that, especially against Madara's sharingan. _Who knew what those eyes could see._

"Come on, Hokage-sama," Madara said, that young voice dripping poison. _No, I will not have my plan be foiled again_, he thought.

In an almost lazy motion Minato drew forth a weird-shaped kunai and threw it at Madara. _A thrown kunai? How gennin_, Madara thought, his eyes fixed on Minato, the sharingan making sure any of Minato's movement was seen before he even made them.

But then Minato suddenly disappeared, and at that exact same moment Madara felt a sharp blade in his stomach. Madara immediately pushed Minato's hand away and slid back swiftly as only a shinobi could do. Still, even with his sharingan he barely avoided the weird kunai. He blocked it with a kunai of his own. The weird kunai cluttered away somewhere, The waterfall gushed on.

"Was that... hiraishin?" Madara said, a little awed. He stared intently at Minato, trying to unlock the secret.

Minato nodded and again disappeared. Madara felt another blade, this time to his right eye. Madara screamed and instinctively jumped away from Minato.

"That's... fast... but I think... I see it..." Madara said through the pain.

_What the... He got stabbed in the eye and that's what he says? Just as I feared. His sharingan's different, _Minato thought. What was worse, he was still alive.

Minato was about to strike when an ANBU, one he named Watanabe, appeared beside him.

"What are you doing here?" Minato asked, annoyed at the interruption. He would now have to babysit him as he fought Madara.

"Hokage-sama! A disaster! The Kyuubi!" Watanabe stammered loudly.

_So the animal wasn't lying_, Minato thought. He looked around for Madara, but he wasn't there. And his kunai with the seal wasn't there either. _Good, I could track him_, Minato thought. But the Kyuubi was at Konoha. _Madara would have to wait_. Minato disappeared, appearing instantly at Konoha.

Madara clutched his stomach and his eye. He had already put the necessary bandages. The blood flow lessened somewhat. _The Kyuubi will keep him busy for a while, if it won't kill him_, Madara thought as he studied the seal on the kunai. _So that's how he does it. But I think I can make it better._


End file.
